Searching for a Lover
by HermioneLovesCastle
Summary: After the cliffhanger we watched in 623, this is my - alternative - version of 701.


_Kate stared at the burning car for a long time without saying anything. She just cried. Ryan and Esposito came by her side. They kept telling her to calm down and that there's nothing she can do. Kate didn't talk. She didn't even move. She could only hear Alexis screaming._

_Alexis couldn't get any closer until the fire was off. When she got there, Kate was already next to the car with the CSU officers. She kept looking all over the car but she couldn't find Castle's body. _

_She got a tiny relief that her future husband was still alive but this relief was immediately replaced by a huge worry. 'Where is he? Who could do something like that to Castle?' she thought. _

_Her dress was dirty. She has been searching all around the area for more than 5 hours. Lainie was trying to persuade her to go home: "Kate, for the name of God go home, change clothes, have a bath and sleep. Tomorrow your mind will be clear and you'll find a solution." But Kate didn't care._

_The sun had gone down. Kate could barely see. She went back, home had a quick shower and drove to the precinct. She prepared the murder board and made some coffee. *at a warehouse far away from the precinct*_

_It was dark. He tried to move his hands but the rope was tightly tied all around his body. He heard footsteps. A door opened and the only thing Richard could see was a light. A white light about 10 meters away. The door closed while making a piercing sound. This sound gave Richard a headache. He felt like he had been drugged. A man was coming closer. He was about 5 meters away. Richard couldn't see who he was. Everything was dark and complicated._

_*back at the precinct* _

_The last thing Kate needed was to start asking Martha and Alexis the typical questions "Is there anyone that would hurt Castle?", "Where were you when the car crush happened?" Why did she even needed to ask this? It was ridiculous. She knew where they were. They were right next to her. Waiting for the groom. She tried to stay calm. Martha and Alexis were already destroyed. The last thing they needed was her crying, too._

_After all the questions were done, Kate quited the room. She went directly to the rest room and burst into tears. A couple of minutes later she wiped her cheeks and looked at the mirror. Her eyes had this bloody red color that you would think she was crying blood. She took a few deep breaths and left the room._

_By the time she git closer to her desk Ryan and Esposito had already finished all the digging up. She took a few deep breaths again so she would be ready to face the facts Ryan and Esposito were about to tell her. "Yo! Nothing unusual neither in the phone records nor in the financials. You okay?"_

_"Yeah.." her answer was a pure lie. Esposito's statement almost killed Beckett. She hoped that the kidnapper was hiding somewhere either in the financials or in the phone records. Now she had nothing to begin with. _

_She called Martha, again. She asked her to come back to the precinct for some more questions. "Martha, I know it's painful. I know exactly how you feel. We need to stay calm to find him. So, please, try to remember, has Richard any enemies? From his high school years till now. Is there anyone that would hurt him? I want to know everything; from some offensive words to a night in prison. I need to start searching for him and I have nothing to begin with." "I don't know.. Nobody ever wanted to hurt Richard. He was.. is.. a lovely man. Everyone loved.. loves him and you know it. Except.."_

_"Except what?" asked Kate hoping to hear something that will help. "Well, when he had just published his first book there was this one guy.. um.. one of his friends from college that was writing, too. He claimed that Richard stole his story. I don't remember exactly what happened.. It was so many years ago but I do remember one thing; he said that he's gonna be back and that Richard would pay for what he did. But you don't think after all these years he would still want revenge, do you?" 'Hell yes, Martha! Of course and he would still want revenge!' Kate thought but instead she said "Well, we can't know, yet. But it's a beginning. Can you give us a name?" "Um.. Richard needed a lawer so the name must be somewhere in the files around the house.. I'm gonna call you whenever I find it.."_

_"Thanks! And, Martha.. We're gonna find him.. I promise."_


End file.
